In recent years, airbag devices have become standard equipment for most motor vehicles. The airbag device is a safety device activated upon an emergency such as a vehicle collision to receive and protect an occupant using a cushion inflated and deployed by gas pressure. There are different kinds of airbag devices for various installation locations or uses. For example, in order to protect the occupant of the front seat against an impact given mainly in the front-back direction, a front airbag is provided in the center of the steering at the driver seat, and a passenger airbag is provided in the vicinity of a front passenger seat at the instrument panel or any other location. In addition, in order to protect occupants of the front and back seats against a side collision and a subsequent roll over (turn over), a curtain airbag to be inflated and deployed along the side windows is provided at the wall part near the ceiling, and a side airbag to be inflated and deployed just beside an occupant is provided at the side of a seat.
Among the various airbag devices described above, cushions for the front airbag and the passenger airbag that restrain occupants in the front seats are provided generally in front of the occupants in the vehicle. For example, in the airbag device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No.: H6-24283, airbags for a driver's seat and a front passenger seat are provided in front of the driver's seat and the front passenger seat, and an airbag for a center seat is provided in front of the center seat. The above-referenced document shows, for example, how the cushion of the airbag for the front passenger seat is inflated and deployed from the upper part of an instrument panel to fill the space between the instrument panel and the windshield.